The Endless Road to Discovery
by Alternate Reality1
Summary: A series of stories (mainly one-shots) of Hank and Connor's evolving relationship after the revolution. How they learn to live, love, and - in some cases - suffer each other. Enjoy!


_Hi there! Well this is my first D:BH fanfic, after officially being in love with the fandow for the past four and a half months or so. I've got a few ideas I'd like to hopefully write at some point._

_Please let me know what you think - it's actually been quite liberating writing this with Hank's swearing (I don't normally include bad language in my stories, so be warned!). _

_The first one-shot is, I'm ashamed to say, inspired by real-life events. I did, when I was young, shamelessly look up the term in question to be horrified by what I saw. Never again :P And just to note, there are some possible spoilers for "The X-Files" if you've never seen it. Be warned._

* * *

**The Truth is Inside**

"_...get your free trial now! Only $48.99 for the first –"_

"Channel up." Click.

"_...so refreshing! It squeezes every last drop of juice from th-"_

"Channel up." Click.

" _Oh my god! You've been sleeping with my – "_

"Channel up!" Click.

"_-esting to note how, when you consider how the universe began..."_

"Channel _up_! Jesus Christ, nothing but crap on tonight." The statement was punctuated by a heavy sigh.

"Lieutenant, are you –"

"Ah ah, Connor. We're at home, now. No need for formalities."

"Sorry. _Hank_... are you looking for something in particular?"

"_...apply the gel to the affected area, to help relieve the joint pain within ten minutes..."_

"Channel up." Click.

"There's an interesting programme on National Geographic about the ocean sunfish you might like to watch."

Hank leveled a finger at the android. "I'm not that bored."

"How about the lives and loves of Marilyn Monroe over on Lifetime Movies?"

That was an eyebrow raiser. "Do I look like the sappy type?" Two coffee-coloured eyes turned down in answer.

"_When you said 'it' was targeting us back there, you meant an artificial intelligence. Donald Gelman was trying to create a sentient AI. A program with its own consciousness..."_

The grouchy lieutenant sank back into the sofa with a contented sigh. "Now this is more like it. The X-Files. Not seen this in years." He glanced to his left at his partner. "You might like this one, it's about an AI program that's out to destroy its creators."

Connor wrinkled his eyebrows together. "Why would I like to watch that?"

"Just saying, might interest you. You know, being about computers and shit, the beginnings of sentient AIs and that. This is how we pictured technology forty years ago."

Connor looked a little insulted, to which Hank shrugged. "What?"

"If there was a programme about gorillas on and I told you it might be interesting to you because many believe that is from where humans evolved, would you be offended?"

Touché. "All right, smart ass. Point taken."

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes as the characters rambled on. _"We'd been caring for the AI, weaning it. Then Donald warned us that the system started to display more than consciousness..."_

"Apparently this show became a cult phenomenon when it was first released back in 1993," Connor noted with interest.

"That's right," Hank nodded. "It came about just as the internet was taking off. I remember following it. Everyone was into the whole 'will they, won't they?' aspect of it. Me, I was more into the scary monsters, the psychopaths and the creeps."

"'Will they, won't they'?"

"Yeah, Mulder and Scully. Their slow burn relationship. Took them ages, but they finally got it on."

Connor looked away for a moment, his advanced AI doing a little research of its own. "Mulder was the believer, Scully the doctor trying to disprove his theories."

"A little like us two, you could argue," Hank smirked. "You trying to disprove my theories on alcohol intake, for example."

"But that isn't a theory, it's common sense." Connor almost, _almost_ looked indignant. His eyes gave his game away, knowing Hank better.

"Ah, whatever, don't blow a wire about it." He coughed to camouflage a laugh. He continued his explanation. "They were great characters, true partners. They covered each other's backs fighting conspiracy theories concerning everything – from aliens to Bigfoot, Flukeman to... to even JFK's assassination. They even had a human-alien kid."

Connor's eyebrows sunk deep into a frown. "A human-alien kid?"

"Yeah. He was hunted down by another race of aliens because he was a threat to them. Although in later seasons it turns out Mulder wasn't the father, but it got stupid then."

Connor shuffled in his seat to face Hank better, clearly intrigued. "Who was the father, then? Scully seems very loyal to Mulder."

"Some guy called the Cigarette-Smoking Man. We never knew his real name... Least, I don't think so."

"'Cigarette-Smoking Man'?"

"It was the name the fans gave him."

"I take it because he smoked cigarettes?"

Hank peered at the android, as though he had suddenly solved one of the universe's greatest unsolvable mysteries – _sarcastically_. "No shit, Sherlock." He patted Connor's knee with a heavy palm.

There was another pause in the conversation, just as Mulder was talking to the Lone Gunmen. Connor cocked his head to the side in interest. "The Lone Gunmen are very resourceful."

"Yeah, they were the nerds of the series. Mulder's techies. Named after the JFK assassination." Hank glanced sideways, catching Connor's LED as it cycled yellow briefly, obviously researching the reference for the group's name over the 'net. Hank's own mind lit a light bulb with an idea.

"Mulder had several informants throughout the series," the lieutenant started knowingly, each tentative step cautious. "One was known as 'X' – he was a dark horse. You never knew where you stood with him." He watched Connor's LED for a moment. Yellow, yellow, blue.

"He was killed in an elevator, leaving a cryptic message in his blood."

A shit-eating grin was desperate to burst out on Hank's face. "That's right. Then there was Maria Cover...Cona...Covaro..."

"Covarrubias," Connor helpfully supplied. "She took over the role when X was killed."

Hank bit his lip, trying not to smirk. "Yeah, she did." He couldn't resist. He held up a hand to stroke his beard, covering his smile as he went in for the kill. "But the first informant was known as 'Deep Throat'."

Hank counted to ten. He reached three. "'Deep Throat'? Why was he named..."

The snort from Hank's nose started a splutter of glee as Connor's face twisted in disgust along with a furiously cycling red LED. The naive android stared off into the distance, quite clearly gaping at some horrifying images in his HUD. He stuttered to reach for any words, a mixture of revulsion and mild wonder swimming across his synthetic features. Hank couldn't contain himself anymore.

"See something you don't like?"

"Hank..." It was a whimper at best – a plea to scrub his memory of every minute trace of what he had registered. "What...?"

Hank bawled out a laugh, slapping a hand on his knee in pure delight. He held his sides in with his other arm. "Ah Connor, the look on your face!"

Connor was not amused. "Hank."

The man was crying, his heart alight with glee. "That's the funniest thing I've seen in _ages_..."

Connor huffed. He honest-to-god _huffed_ in annoyance, and Hank chuckled in reply. "Oh god, I'm so sorry, Con, I couldn't resist!"

The android crossed his arms, firing a glare at the older man that could burn at one hundred paces. "You knew what I would find when searching for that... _name_." The last word was spat out in disgust.

Hank's mirth eventually settled, a long contented sigh bringing the blessed moment to a slow crawl. "That's what you get for... _Googling_ everything." He swiped a hand in the air, grasping for the term he wanted.

"Google no longer exists."

"That's beside the point. The point _is_," the finger was back, pointing straight up in the air like he was about to impart words of wisdom to the kid, "sometimes you should just _ask_ for an explanation." The last few fits of giggles died in his throat, which he cleared with a cough.

Connor snorted at the comment, but he was no killjoy. A small shake of the head and an even more shy smile showed he held no grudge to the prank. "I'll bear that in mind for next time."

Oh yes, the truth was out there. Perhaps a little too 'out there' for either of their likings.


End file.
